Claim: “Our brothers in Nigeria have started sacking South Africans”
Source: Social media
Verdict: False
Researched by Lara Zofio
Some social media users are sharing a video (here and here) showing a tense confrontation at an airport, claiming it depicts Nigerians confronting South Africans. One such video was posted with the caption: “Nigerians are now telling South Africans to leave the country.”
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Another user (here) alleges that the footage shows Nigerians harassing airport staff after South Africa-bound flights were cancelled.
In the footage, several passengers appear to be protesting at an airport service desk. One man disconnects the desk’s landline phone, while another man is seen confronting a staff member and attempting to take a phone from his hands. Meanwhile, other passengers record the incident on their mobile phones.
At the time of publishing this report, the three posts together had grossed over 785 thousand views, over 1000 reshares, more than 500 comments and over 3000 likes.
In this fact-check, FactSpace West Africa examines whether the video is connected to the xenophobic events in South Africa.
Fact-check
To trace the origin of the video, we conducted a Google reverse image search using the InVID verification tool and Google Images. Searching key frames from the footage led us to several matches dating back to March 2026.
The matches corresponded to the same video shared across X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. In all instances, the descriptions provided by users indicated that the incident had no connection to South Africa or the recent xenophobic attacks.
According to the captions and comments accompanying the original posts, the video shows an incident that occurred in March at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2 (MMA2) in Lagos. This location is also supported by visual evidence in the footage, including the yellow vest worn by one of the staff members, which bears the inscription “MMA2.”
Users who shared the video at the time stated that the altercation involved passengers of United Nigeria Airlines who had become frustrated after multiple delays to their flight. They explained that a flight originally scheduled to depart at 1:00 p.m. was repeatedly postponed—to 3:00 p.m., then 5:30 p.m., then 7:00 p.m.— until 9:00 p.m.
According to these accounts, mounting frustration over the delays, poor communication, and perceived lack of customer service triggered the confrontation seen in the video.
FactSpace West Africa contacted one of the passengers who shared the footage in March on Instagram. Oluwaseun Idowu Boye confirmed that she was among the affected passengers and verified that the video depicts the incident involving United Nigeria Airlines.
“This video was not xenophobia-related,” she said. Commenting on the recent reposts falsely linking the footage to a confrontation between Nigerians and South Africans, she added: “It is unfortunate if anyone is trying to use the video for an unjust cause. We were delayed passengers trying to call out the airline. Nothing more.”
The available evidence therefore shows that the video predates the recent xenophobia-related discussions and is unrelated to any confrontation between Nigerians and South Africans.
Verdict:
The claim that Nigerians were demanding South Africans leave their country is False. This video shows passengers protesting at an airport and is not related to Nigerians confronting South Africans. It depicts Nigerian passengers expressing frustration over flight delays and poor customer service from the airline.
